Correspondences of LightIllustrations of three stories in the Word that talk about light. (Quotations are the King James translation.)Coloring Page | Ages 7 - 14

Creation ChainMake a paper chain with the names (or pictures) of the people in your family and other things that the Lord has made. Or make a paper chain that illustrates several things in creation that depend on one another. Project | Ages 4 - 14

Creation | The First Day - Level CComplete lesson with activity choices: living in the dark--group blindfold games, video and discussion on the bible, creation and a can of peaches, scripted story discussion, and an illustrated quotation card. Sample Lesson from Creation: reflection of God, Level C.Sunday School Lesson | Ages 11 - 14

Family Worship: The Story of CreationIdeas for reading and discussing the story of creation in Genesis 1. Includes suggestions for extending the experience such as going for a nature walk.Religion Lesson | Ages 3 - 15

Prophecies of the AdventProphecies of Jesus' advent on earth often use the image of new light dawning in darkness to describe the spiritual impact His birth would have on the world.Sunday School Lesson | Ages 11 - 17

The Creation: A General ViewA New Church Bible story explanation for teaching Sunday school. Includes lesson materials for Primary (3-8 years), Junior (9-11 years), Intermediate (12-14 years), Senior (15-17 years) and Adults.Teaching Support | Ages over 3

The Creation: The Fifth and Sixth DaysA New Church Bible story explanation for teaching Sunday school. Includes lesson materials for Primary (3-8 years), Junior (9-11 years), Intermediate (12-14 years), Senior (15-17 years) and Adults.Teaching Support | Ages over 3

The Creation: The First Four DaysA New Church Bible story explanation for teaching Sunday school. Includes lesson materials for Primary (3-8 years), Junior (9-11 years), Intermediate (12-14 years), Senior (15-17 years) and Adults.Teaching Support | Ages over 3

The Purpose of CreationBirth brings a person into the natural world, but God's ultimate purpose is that a person be born again into heavenly life, the life of the spirit.Sunday School Lesson | Ages 11 - 17

The Second Day of CreationLesson outline provides teaching ideas with questions for discussion, projects, and activities.Sunday School Lesson | Ages 7 - 10

The Word Made FleshLike Genesis, the Gospel of John begins with creation. While Genesis describes the creation of natural light, John describes a second creation into spiritual light.Sunday School Lesson | Ages 11 - 17

WorthyPeople in truths from the Lord, because they are in conjunction with Him, are called 'worthy,' as in Revelation 3:4. All worth in the spiritual...

gloryBlessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving (Rev. 7.) signify divine spiritual things of the Lord.

PowerPower,' as in Revelation 4, signifies salvation, because all divine power regards this as its final purpose. A person is reformed by divine power, and...

createdThe creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis means the new creation of the celestial church called 'Man'.

all thingsThe Lord is life itself, is the Creator of the universe, and is the source of life on an ongoing basis. So in a literal...

pleasure'To be satisfied with favor' signifies being filled with the good of love, and 'to be full with the blessings of the Lord' signifies being...

Resources for parents and teachers

The items listed here are provided courtesy of our friends at the General Church of the New Jerusalem. You can search/browse their whole library at the New Church Vineyard website.

Acknowledging the LordOn Thanksgiving wise people give thanks for the fruit of their work, acknowledge that this fruit is from the Lord, and celebrate their thankfulness with worship.Worship Talk | Ages 7 - 14

The Lord Is KingThroughout history good kings have fought to protect their people’s freedom and to provide for their needs. In the vision John saw the Lord was fighting for people’s freedom to choose goodness, for their safety from the hells and for their eternal happiness. This is a battle He will fight continually for everyone, but He will not force people to choose His path. Sample from the Jacob’s Ladder Program, Level 5, for ages 10-11.Religion Lesson | Ages 10 - 11

From Swedenborg's Works

Arcana Coelestia #39

39. Verse 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth creeping things, living creatures; and let birds fly above the earth, upon the face 1
of the expanse of the heavens.

After the great lights have been kindled and lodged in the internal man, from which the external man receives its light, a person starts to live for the first time. Till then he can hardly be said to have lived, for he had imagined that the good he had done he had done from himself, and the truth he had uttered he had spoken from himself. And since man functioning from himself is dead - there being nothing in him that is not evil and false - therefore whatever he brings forth from himself is not living. So true is this that of himself he is incapable of doing any good deed that is in itself good. The fact that man cannot begin to think about good or to will it, and so cannot do good, unless the Lord is the source, is clear to everyone from the doctrine of faith, for the Lord says in Matthew,

[2] Nevertheless when the Lord is revitalizing a person, or regenerating him, He does allow him, to begin with, to imagine that good and truth originate in himself, for at that point a person cannot grasp anything else, or be led to believe and finally perceive, that all good and truth come from the Lord alone. As long as he held the former opinion his truths and goods were comparable to 'a tender plant', then 'a plant bearing seed', and after that 'a fruit tree', which are inanimate. But once he has been brought to life by love and faith and believes that the Lord is at work in every good deed he does and in every truth he utters, he is compared first to creeping things from the water and to birds which fly above the earth, and then to beasts, all of which are animate and are called 'living creatures'.